Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The scream burst out of a roiling thunderstorm. Waves sloshed out of the Red River, sending foam up into the sky and back into the waters, concealing the frightened Jings as they fled.

The Angel fell to the earth as it screamed, its golden blood drenching the skies with two dazzling lines.

In its heavily injured state of unbearable suffering, it still remained calm, seeking out the final ray of hope amidst despair.

Its two wings had been torn off by the blue-clothed Daoist, robbing it of the lightning-like speed it was so proud of. It decided to give up on flying, allowing itself to drop to the ground. Its speed increased, the golden blood gushing out of its body no longer able to keep up. However, as its body rammed against the air, the air began to burn, transforming it into a streak of fire.

It smashed into the ground like a meteor.

Only this way could it ensure that its speed was enough for it to hopefully escape that serene and terrifying Daoist.

With a bang, the Angel smashed into the river bank, creating a giant hole.

The massive impact had no effect on it. It immediately stood up, intending to escape to the opposite shore.

Its stronger companion was in the mountain across the river.

But just as it rose, another meteor smashed into that hole in the river bank.

The White Emperor had left the observation platform, dropping from the sky to land a foot on the Angel's chest.

There were countless cracks, like a rock being smashed to pieces by an even harder stone.

The Angel's body struggled a few times as blood poured out of its mouth and nose. Then it closed its eyes and died.

The White Emperor slowly took his foot away.

He gazed pensively at the Angel's golden blood.

His gaze moved down to the lower part of the Angel's body. He saw only a smooth surface with no distinctive characteristics.

The White Emperor froze and then shook his head.

It's just a bird-person that's neither male nor female.

That's all this so-called Angel is.

……

……

The Angel of Sacred Light called Anger's Flame had died.

The most direct reason for its swift death was that when it saw that image of a white tiger in the sky, it had chosen to fight rather than escape.

In that specific moment, its judgment and choice had been correct.

The White Emperor's attention had to be focused on Madam Mu in the clouds. Even if those human experts in the courtyard would be killed, even if his subjects were about to be massacred, he could only use his soul to attack, just like the Tianhai Divine Empress had done during the coup of the Mausoleum of Books.

If the Angel had been able to stop the attack from the White Emperor's soul, even if it was just to buy time, the other Angel would be able to kill Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong, and then turn to join Madam Mu in attacking the White Emperor. When that time came, not even the White Emperor in all his power could be their match.

The problem was that the Angel had not imagined that another supreme expert besides the White Emperor had come to this city today.

After their descent, they had developed an understanding of all the experts of this continent and knew that there was a particularly formidable Daoist.

In their view, this Daoist could not possibly appear.

But that Daoist had appeared.

And so, it died.

The entire matter was just this simple.

……

……

The blue-clothed Daoist landed on the river bank.

The wind ruffled his black hair and blue robe, making him truly seem like a celestial immortal.

A subtle stretch of his hands had torn off the wings of that Angel of Sacred Light.

There was only one such Daoist in this world.

Shang Xingzhou.

Once a middle-aged Daoist of Xining's old temple, he was now the strongest expert of the continent and the ruler of the Human race.

Shang Xingzhou and the White Emperor were old friends, but they did not chat, because the battle had not concluded.

They gazed across the Red River.

Deep within the mountains, a Celestial Tree incessantly swayed. Sword intents could occasionally be glimpsed amidst the raging Qi of the Wildfire.

……

……

A storm of swords and several streams of fire.

Chen Changsheng's left hand was gripped around the five Heavenly Tome Monoliths, but he never once used them.

Xu Yourong stood behind him, the Tong Bow at ready, but the Wu Arrow was still nocked.

The Angel felt threatened, but it did not care. The entire situation was under its control and impossible to reverse.

It shuttled through the Celestial Tree as a bolt of lightning as it indifferently looked down on that young man and woman in front of the Celestial Tree.

Suddenly, it stopped, standing atop a thick branch of the Celestial Tree.

Chen Changsheng did not use his sword to send the stone pearls and Xu Yourong did not loose her bow, because they, just like the Angel, had also heard that scream.

That scream that reverberated over White Emperor City and threw all of the Red River into turmoil.

The Angel gazed across the shore, endless shock suddenly appearing in those once-emotionless eyes.

It had clearly sensed the death of its companion, and then the presence of those extremely formidable Qis.

Two wings of white stirred a fierce gale as it immediately prepared to leave.

Just when it was prepared to fly to the northern skies, a tear suddenly appeared in front of it.

This tear expanded with indescribable speed, needing mere seconds to extend ten-some li.

In that tear was not the bottomless abyss, nor was it another world of chaos and turmoil. It was a city.

It was probably that city on the other side of the river.

This city was called White Emperor City.

Outside the city was a river.

The river had a river bank.

A man stood on this river bank.

The White Emperor.

……

……

The fissure in the sky did not disappear. A sharp corner of metal protruded from the bottom of the fissure, its surface carved with some sort of complicated inscription.

It had been this piece of metal that had torn open space and mystically connected this space to White Emperor City.

Neither the Angel nor Chen Changsheng knew how this was the case, but Xu Yourong did. In this inn, she had seen this bronze mirror many times and was very familiar with the carvings on it.

Another person also knew of it.

"The Clear Sky Mirror!"

High in the clouds, Madam Mu became somewhat pale, her face even whiter than the surrounding clouds.

A moment ago, when she saw Shang Xingzhou silently appear behind the now-dead Angel, she knew that she had lost.

No matter how meticulously she and Black Robe had planned, they had still ultimately failed.

But in that moment, she still did not understand how Shang Xingzhou had disregarded eighty thousand li of space, instantly traveling from the capital to White Emperor City.

Only when she saw that shard of a bronze mirror tear open the sky did she know the answer.

Probably seventy percent of the Orthodoxy's power rested in Chen Changsheng's hands, as he was the Pope.

But the foundational resources of the Orthodoxy were still with Shang Xingzhou.

……

……

The White Emperor did not walk through that spatial tear.

The Clear Sky Mirror was already destroyed, so the fissure its shard could tear in the sky was not very stable, and it was simply impossible for it to endure his powerful Qi.

And even now, the majority of his focus was still high in the clouds, on Madam Mu.

No one understood his wife more than him, so he was exceptionally cautious.

But he still moved.

Just like before, he moved his soul.

The image of the white tiger in the sky tore the sea of clouds to shreds.

His soul entered the Red River, entered that fissure. When it exited, it was in the mountain on the other side.

A divine chant flowed out from the Angel's lips.

A Qi of absolute dignity and a stern will to fight emerged in its eyes.

It was still powerful. If the White Emperor and Shang Xingzhou only used their souls to attack, it could still leave.

The spear formed of light pierced through the leaves and clouds, thrusting toward the White Emperor's soul.

The crackling of invisible flames could be heard as the space between the spear of light and the White Emperor's soul was set ablaze.

In the blinding light, the White Emperor's soul gradually turned faint.

The Angel remained wary and vigilant, because the White Emperor's expression was also very faint.

……

……

When the Clear Sky Mirror tore open the sky, revealing the river bank in the fissure, the White Emperor had been standing alone on the river bank.

And right now, it was still just the White Emperor standing there.

He calmly gazed across the shore, gazing to the western part of the sea of clouds, not moving a single inch.

Shang Xingzhou was no longer by his side.

Blue clothes drifted over the surging great river, riding along the winds.

Shang Xingzhou had personally come.

In an instant, he had surmounted several dozen li of river and mountains, leaving a blur of blue in the sky.

The Celestial Tree swayed as a storm of swords raged within.

Shang Xingzhou acted as if none of it existed, and did not speak to Chen Changsheng as he thrust his right hand into the storm of swords.

Like he was picking flowers or plucking a leaf, he took a sword out of the storm.